Wednesday, April 24, 2013

The summer heat is harsh and upon us... but instead of making ourselves prisoners of electric fans and air conditioners, how about cooling ourselves naturally through food?

First, drink plenty of water, preferably room temperature (or just slightly cool). See, the closer your inner body temperature is to the temperature outside, the more comfortable you will be.

Next, partake of food and drinks that are known for their cooling effect on the body. First on the list is buko juice/young coconut water. Eat lots of watery fruits like watermelon, melon and most citrus ones. Check out what's in season during summer and also enjoy bananas and plantain. Cook viands with extra helpings of onions and enjoy broths with ginger. All these will help cool your body.

Avoid diuretics like coffee.

One other way is to eat less meat and dairy, as these are harder to digest and makes our body burn more.

Yet another way, which is ideal for those of who are overweight, is to actually just eat less, as digestion also burns up the body. Just eat light meals and drink a beverage made from water with some calamansi/lemon squeezed in it. It helps make you feel full longer without the calories.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

For those who don't want to be bothered by actually going somewhere, there is always Sulit for you. Some musical instruments there, I hear, are sold cheaper than what you usually see at music stores in malls.

However, if you're adamant that you must test your guitar's cool xlr to 1/4 or want to be taught to tune your new violin, then here are some areas/shops you may want to visit:

Go to the vicinity of Raon in Quiapo (or you can start from the Sta. Cruz area going to Quiapo). Just ask whoever to direct you to the streets where music stores selling musical instruments, accessories, amps and speakers are. My relatives even buy their flutes and saxophone from there because it is cheaper.

Basements of malls usually house the music stores selling instruments and accessories.

Sta. Mesa in Quezon City is also popular for having many stores that sell musical instruments.

And then there are RJ stores that are sure to offer the best of quality you can buy.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Right now, the airport in Marinduque is still being expanded and improved. Hopefully, it will be done soon so flights can resume. Trust me, you will always prefer the 30-minute flight over the road/RoRo trip.... unless maybe you're with a group of friends who like roughing it and intend on bringing A LOT of stuff.

Those who don't have cars can also opt to just board buses at Buendia... but I am not so familiar with the fares for that option.

What we did last Holy Week was go via what they call door-to-door, wherein a van fetches you from your home and delivers you to your accommodations in Marinduque (those going to Bellaroca are probably fetched at a certain jump off point).

A usual door-to-door van's maximum capacity is 16. They insist on 4 persons occupying the three rows of seats while 2 people sit with the driver in front. The one we used charged P800/passenger. You can also rent their van for P11,000 for an exclusive trip (say, you don't want other passengers coming with your group... or your cargo will occupy the space of the entire van).

For those with private cars, the charge per car at the RoRo ferry is P2,900 (with 2 passengers free, the rest will pay P220 if Balanacan port bound and P340 if Cawit bound). Cawit port is currently closed though so all ferries dock at Balanacan.

Now, for those who want to hire a van for a day tour in Marinduque... it will cost P2,500. Boat hire to Tres Reyes Islands is P1,500 (or P300/day depending on the season).

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Going to Marinduque and coming from Manila meant that we were among those who were picked up first (around 4 PM). Unfortunately, at 10 PM, we were still fetching passengers from Laguna! This isn't always the case, it will depend on where the passengers are coming from and if the driver will be fetching many passengers from one place or just one to two passengers from each point. Sometimes, you'll be lucky... sometimes, you'll want to just go back home.

Usually, the door-to-door travels at night and catches the 12 midnight ferry in Quezon, and you will be in your destination in Marinduque between 3-5 AM.

Going back to Manila immediately after Holy Week proved a bad idea for us... because there were so many vehicles waiting to be ferried that we were stranded in the passenger terminal building for over 12 hours. We were fetched at past 2 PM and were in queue at 5... but got to board a ferry at almost 9 AM the following day. Talk about hassle! :) And since we're from Manila, we had to be patient as the driver dropped off half of the passenger load which can prove exhausting to ones already so tired (and with kids too).

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There's now a park and sail option at the Quezon port. You can leave your car, board the ferry and just ride a jeep at the port to your destination.

Others coming from Marinduque also have the option to just ride the jeep to Balanacan and then board a door to door van there which will bring them to their doorsteps in Manila. Just not sure how much the fare is for that setup.

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Come to Marinduque so you'll know how wonderful the springs and lakes and mountains and beach strips that await you :)